Descent
by insert-original-name-here
Summary: Edmund's first term at 'that horrid school which was where he had began to go wrong'. Or it might go on for longer than that but basically the beginning of Edmund's time at boarding school and him moving towards how he is in LWW.


**A/N – I should be finishing stuff I'm writing really, but I had an insatiable urge to write Narnia fanfiction. Also, sorry this A/N will be long but if and when I continue the story they'll be shorter.**

**Basically, I've always been vaguely intrigued by Edmund's school and I like Edmund. This will hopefully coincide with the two quotes from LWW, where Peter says that Edmund's perfectly beastly to anyone smaller than himself at school and then where the narrative says that his school was where he had began to go wrong.**

**Edmund is OOC in this but he's supposed to be because it's before his character changed and I don't think he'd go back to being exactly like he was before Narnia after LWW anyway. If I write well enough he should move towards being more like he is at the start of LWW but I'm not sure I'll take it all the way to that point.**

**Also, I'm posting the start of another Narnia fic about Susan after LB and I will probably only focus on one Narnia fic at a time (yeah, I meant to only write one, finish it and then maybe write the other but it didn't work) but I haven't decided which yet so if you do read them both and have a preference and want to tell me 'twould be good. I might always end up writing them at the same time but I don't plan to at the moment.**

**Bookverse, but I suppose there could be some influence from the films because I've seen them recently.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia, I never have owned it and I'm not going to start owning it midway through the story. Or ever.**

The sun was already turning a burnt orange and lengthening the shadows of the unfamiliar school buildings; Edmund hadn't seen Peter since the train had left. That had been the morning before and he had barely even got a glimpse of him since. Peter was supposed to be here now. Peter had _promised_.

Mother had promised too. She had hugged him and wished him well and told him that Peter would look after him and help if he had any problems and that he could write whenever he needed to. That was what Lucy had said as well. That he _must_ write and tell her everything and she would tell him everything too, and she had hugged him fiercely, as if she didn't want to let go ever. Then he and Susan and Peter had got onto the train, and at the next station he had said goodbye to Susan too. She had hugged him, so that he wondered if that was what all women did, and then had warned him not to get into trouble. Of course, he had decided already that he certainly didn't _want_ to get into trouble.

Edmund had known all that would happen: he hadn't wanted to say goodbye to Lucy or Mother or Susan but he had been expecting it. It was when they boarded the next train and Peter had realised so suddenly that he had to go with the other older boy who had rushed to speak to him almost as soon as the train left that Edmund first felt lost. Peter had said goodbye too, naturally. He had looked so awfully guilty when he had told his little brother about how he simply didn't have much choice. He had promised he would still look after Edmund while they were at school and that if Edmund didn't meet him before, they were to meet by the gym after lessons the next day. But that hadn't stopped Edmund from being left alone to find a place on the train and sit, waiting as the train rolled towards the school he would go to.

Now he was still waiting. Lessons had finished, and Edmund didn't have a watch but the shadows were long and Peter still hadn't arrived. He had _promised_; he would be coming soon, Edmund knew.

But even now it wasn't Peter who detached himself from the path and approached him. It was a group of other boys who mainly looked older than Edmund, and whom he quickly persuaded himself not to turn and walk away from: Peter would be coming soon and he had to wait for his brother. If Peter were here, he wouldn't walk away. So Edmund stayed, looked up and met eyes with the one at the front, who would introduce himself as Roy Densen. The few around him wouldn't introduce themselves, but he would learn their names later. The skinny one close by – he would remember later – was called Carter, and behind him was Atkins, and then there was the one he recognised from his own dorm that they called Spider. There were others too, but when Edmund thought about it later he wouldn't remember which ones.

"You're Peter Pevensie's brother," it was the one at the front speaking, Densen. He was about the same height as Peter and half-smiling.

Slowly, he nodded "Edmund," then he looked up again, hopeful "Have you seen him?" Peter would be coming soon, and then he wouldn't need to stay here with these boys.

"Lost him, have you?"

He paused, about to nod, so that his head stopped, almost in an awkward position. Should he answer that? It seemed they expected him to say something, all looking at him steadily. But hadn't they always been doing that? "Are you a gang?" he blurted out, at a loss.

Densen's half-smile increased a notch, but his steady look didn't falter "I... wouldn't say that. We're just friends. Close friends. We spend a lot of time together" he glanced slightly sideways "In fact; maybe you should spend some time with us. We'd certainly like to get to know you, I'm sure.

That was unexpected. Edmund had heard of gangs and these boys seemed awfully like one, even if they said they weren't. And that seemed almost like an invitation to join one. No, he didn't want that. That was as sure a way as any of getting into trouble and he had always known he didn't want that. If only Peter had come earlier; then they probably would already have gone and- oh he had to say _something_ or he'd look like a gormless fool. "So – you want me to spend all my time at school snivelling around you?"

That brought looks of surprise, he thought, but mostly just little laughs to go with the half-smile. "If you'd rather not, you could always spend it snivelling around your high and mighty older brother couldn't you?"

Again, Edmund realised in horror that he had yet to reply, but his mind was too lost, too blank. It simply hadn't occurred to him that there would be people at school who didn't _like_ Peter.

"But he's already tried that, hasn't he?" someone else was speaking now, though Edmund couldn't have said who, since he knew none of their names. "He's probably been doing it his whole life."

"Only thing is," another nameless voice put in "It hasn't worked has it? Bet it's never worked,"

"What are you talking about?" surely they were just guessing? It wasn't even true was it? "You don't know do you? I never spent all my time –" the words sounded stupid now "– snivelling around Peter, and-"

"But I heard him," Edmund thought it was the first faceless voice again but he couldn't be sure "I heard him telling Davis about you on the train. Thinking about it now, it's odd that you weren't with him, isn't it?" a slow, wide smile was curling up on this one's face as he spoke.

He almost muttered something about how Peter had had important things to do on the train, and how who he was with was none of _their _business anyway, but his thoughts refused to bypass the inevitable question. "What did he say?"

"He was talking about how you'd changed. I think he thought you weren't good enough anymore – or maybe he just thought you never had been good enough." _No._ that wasn't true. There was no reason to believe that "Then he said – ah, it was 'ask him what he wants to be when he's older, and he always used to say he wanted to be Peter-"

"I never said that..." he couldn't help from cutting in, but he could feel himself looking away and wondered dully if his cheeks might be glowing red, lending the lie to his words.

"And then it was – he said: give the kid a few months now and he'll be more likely to say he wants to _kill_ Peter,"

_What?_ "He really said-? I would never want to- No, that can't be true." They were all smiling now, that same slow, wide smirk. Edmund tried to blink the smiles out of his eyes and jammed his chin out at them "I... don't believe you,"

It didn't stop the grins. They still danced about in front of his eyes, mocking him, swimming jeeringly in and out of his worry. Peter didn't think that about him, did he? He wouldn't say that, ever. Would he? But they knew what Edmund had said; they couldn't be guessing that. So Peter must have said those things. Edmund realised he wasn't looking at the other boys now, his eyes fixed determinedly on the wall of the gym, but he felt like he could still see them, like it was their voices asking the pressing, mocking questions. Did Peter really mean that? Did he really think Edmund wanted to kill him?

"Maybe your brother's already given you up, Pevensie. Maybe he doesn't want to be around you anymore. Maybe he just never liked you and wanted to find a way to get rid of you."

"I don't want to kill Peter," Edmund told the gym wall: quietly, flatly, dully.

"Something change over the hols, did it? You suddenly start hating your brother?" another voice, from behind the first ones "Or did he suddenly start hating you?"

"Oh – no," nothing had changed, not that Edmund remembered. The only difference had been that when Peter had first come home he had only been talking about how he was going to be made a prefect at school – a _lower school_ prefect of course, only older boys became full prefects – and had barely even glanced at Edmund until he had finished telling Mother and Susan all about it. He hadn't meant to do that though, and Edmund didn't _think_ anything had gone wrong. He _hadn't_ held it against his brother, had barely even thought about it for the rest of the holidays.

His brother _would _come soon, and then Edmund could _ask_ him about what they said, and tell him about the boys. Peter _had _said he would look after Edmund. Even if he no longer liked him.

Apparently most of the boys had got bored now, Densen at the front the only one still looking steadily at him. "It seems you don't have so much choice about, ah _snivelling around_ your brother. I expect he'd quickly tire of you," _No. No, I don't believe you. Peter's- _"But –" the hand on his shoulder was slightly heavier, tighter than a normal friendly grip would be and Edmund could see the hard slate of his eyes "– the offer to spend time with us still very much stands. It still needs to be met,"

His eyes closed, even though he knew they shouldn't, not yet. Densen's face was _there_ above his, blocking his view so he couldn't even look away and stare at the wall anymore and he just needed to shut them out, to ignore them. And then the hand had left his shoulder and he was moving his own hand up slowly to feel the faint numbness quickly fading from it and opening his eyes to see them walking away, all their backs turned and only soft, strong sniggers rolling back to him, and he was feeling stupid for stopping, closing his eyes and suddenly he didn't think Densen's face had been that close, his hand not as strong as Edmund had supposed.

Then, even as they left, in their place it _was_ Peter who was coming, running so that Edmund was sure he was almost sprinting and clapping a brotherly hand onto his shoulder "Oh, I'm awfully sorry, Ed. Have you been waiting here since classes ended?" At his nod, his brother went on "I really was supposed to find you earlier, you know. It's just that Mr. Linkin kept us back after maths and _then_ there was a commotion in the sciences corridor and-"

"It's OK," Edmund tugged at the corners of his mouth as he looked up and he thought he saw his brother do the same.

"I really have messed up haven't I? I promised you _and_ Mother I'd look after you and I haven't. I should have been with you on the train too, but –" Peter seemed to be staring fixedly at Edmund's spot on the gym wall "– but Forrester had to talk to me about how I was to become a prefect; after that I was going to come and find you but then George Davis-"

Davis. Wasn't that the one they'd mentioned? The one Peter had been talking to.

_I don't want to kill you Peter._ "Really. It's OK,"

"Thanks Ed. All the same, I am sorry. We should head inside soon though. It's not long until the buildings lock up and then we'll _need_ to be inside." The younger brother nodded quietly and the two started to walk back the way the older had come, Peter making disjointed attempts at probing Edmund for reassurance that he was having no problems.

"... yes, then I had maths, French then Latin and it all seemed-" _give the kid a few months now and he'll be more likely to say he wants to _kill_ Peter _"Peter do you know somebody called Roy Densen?" the question made a rebellious escape before he could hold it back, slicing unceremoniously through his train of speech and earning him a startled look from his brother.

"I do actually. He's in some of my classes, but he mostly either ignores me or tries to annoy me. From what I heard he was part one of those cliques that have spread up around the school and I did hear this year that he was leading it, but I don't believe that can be true, because any of the people leading them that _I've_ heard about are older than me. If you ask me it's best to stay away from people like him" A curious look darted his way "Why? Is he so notorious that you've heard of him already?"

Peter's half-laugh was almost loud enough to be heard, and Edmund almost told him, there and then, of his meeting just as he had planned. But he found he couldn't. Surely, _surely_ it wouldn't do to have his brother knowing about the unsavoury company he had been keeping, especially if said brother was rumoured to no longer like him. "It's just – just a boy in my dorm was talking about him. He said he was–" Edmund plucked the first word he could think of to describe Densen out of his head, glad that Peter wouldn't think it was he who had first used it "–said he was scary,"

**Endy endy endy. If you don't like it reviews would be appreciated so I know it's not worth carrying on/there are problems with it, if you do like it they'd be great so I know it's good and if you're completely indifferent I can't think of a reason for you to review but reviews would still be appreciated.**

**And now I'm finally shutting up.**


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